Act of Deceit
by levicat
Summary: Set in an alternate universe, the term 'Twelve Holy Knights' was a codename for the twelve best agents working in LIGHTS, a NGO that worked towards world peace. Their leader, a mysterious man codenamed ;Sun Knight;, was rumoured to be a handsome man with benevolent appearance. Appearance, however, could be deceiving - this was painstakingly true for the 38th generation, Grisia Sun.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: LSK is owned by Yu Wo

* * *

><p>We lived in a modern world full of chaos and conflicts. LIGHTS, our organization, was founded for the reason of regulating that chaos and maintaining peace. It stood for Legal International Governer of Hidden Trusted Societies (although Earth preferred to call it Legal and Illegal Governer because of the shady methods we sometimes use). Either way, we had a great part in defusing tensions in warring areas and administering order.<p>

My name was Grisia Sun. Of course, ;Sun; wasn't my real last name, it was how I was referred as in the organization. To put it simply, my codename is ;Sun Knight;, and I was the leader of LIGHTS. Under me was the ;Twelve Holy Knights; which consisted of our top twelve agents that included me.

What? You didn't believe I was one of the best agents out there? Well, brothers, they always says it's better to have a brain than muscle, so even if my shooting skill was – ehm – average, it wouldn't be a problem as long as I can solve it with shrewdness – I mean, cleverness!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: LSK is owned by Yu Wo.

Hello, thank you for your support :) I think there're some things that need explaining for this alternate universe. First of all, the story was set in a modern world just like ours, but one where ESP power existed. The people possessing these kinds of power (pyrokinesis, telepathy, psychokinesis, etc) were called espers. There were many espers working in LIGHTS as well as non-espers.

There might be some confusion about the countries, so I'll try to explain them after the story ends.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

"We're ready, Leaf Knight Captain."

"Understood."

Elmairy tightened his grip on the sniping gun and focused on his target. The man was surrounded; there was nothing else he could do. Nevertheless, the hostage he held basically rendered the team immobile, so it was up to Elmairy to turned the tide into a more favorable one.

For a split second he couldn't help but think that if he had been one of captains under Judgement, he wouldn't have shot only to tranquilize the criminal; he would've quickly and efficiently eliminated that man. That thought gave him some kind of a mixed feeling.

"Counting down." He muttered in low voice through the transmitter. "Everyone, get ready. 10…9…8…"

It was a glorious sunny day, with little wind. While adjusting the angle for the final time, Elmairy counted down.

"2…1…0."

He pulled the trigger, and with a fearsome precision the tranquilizer bullet pierced the glass of the building located several miles from his position and hit the man in the arm. Given the forceful sedative effect, he dropped onto the ground straightaway like a sack of potatoes.

Some disarray ensued after that. The rescue team quickly pulled the weeping hostage to safety and subdued the now unconscious man in just a matter of few seconds. After a moment of confusion and a good amount of shouting, the crime scene slowly cleared as the rest of hostages was let out. Still, Elmairy held his position until his subordinates reported back.

"Report, soldier." Even until now, the term 'soldier' still made Elmairy uncomfortable. They weren't the army, they were a NGO for god's sake! Nevertheless, the strictest army training had been drilled on them for years, brainwashing them into soldiers.

"Situation is under control, Captain."

Elmairy breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good work, everyone."

He quickly dissambled his beloved sniping gun, packed his equipments, and was prepared to leave the spot when his radio made a static buzzing sound. Elmairy frowned. He checked the channels, but no other sound was heard. At first he was alarmed, but then suddenly a familiar voice, low but melodic, rang in his head.

_"..Strawberry?"_

Elmairy shut his eyes and pinches his nose in frustation. Of course he knew exactly who was talking in his head right now, because of his familiarity with this man over the years. Not to mention that in this world where ESP power existed, that man was the only person who had this high of ability in telepathy.

He was also the only one to ever give him such a ridiculous nickname.

That man was codenamed ;Sun; and was the highest authoritive figure in LIGHTS. He directly commanded the ;Twelve Holy Knights; and aside from the medical division – which was under the ;Pope; - he was in charge of all LIGHTS agents.

However, he couldn't answer straight away, because his ESP power wasn't telepathy. _Surely Sun knew that? So why is he contacting him in this way?_ Elmairy frowned, not knowing what to do. Should he called him on phone?

When his leader spoke in his head again, there was a sense of urgency rarely found in his voice._ "…Sun hope Brother Leaf could hear this clearly, although Sun won't be able to hear you. That doesn't matter. Sun would like to inform you that unfortunately, North Napal has declared an open war over the South just a few moment ago."_

Hearing the news, Elmairy's body turned rigid. This was a very, very bad situation. So the issue had gotten this worse?

The south part of Napal, led by the ex-soldier Awaitsun, had been trying hard to declare independence from the country. It wasn't an easy struggle; Napal had been an oligarchy ruled by the Vault family for generations, and it was impossible for them to let go of the southern part, where most of their food supply came from.

While the country LIGHTS' headquarter was based in, Senin country, was neutral, North Napal had asked for assistance from the neighboring country Orchid. If they succeeded, it would be disastrous for LIGHTS that supported South Napal, especially because Orchid was the base of the biggest undergound mercenary guild, the War Guild.

If Orchid and the War Guild decided to back North Napal…

They should hold a captain meeting straight away!

As if reading Elmairy's mind, ;Sun; continued. _"…The captain meeting can be held later. Strawberry, this is an emergency, so I'd like to ask you a small favour."_

Elmairy's eyes looked up to the sky as he resigned to his fate. How many times had it been now, doing his leader's 'small favours'? But still, he couldn't refuse, especially as this now was truly a peculiar circumstance.

_Okay, what do you want me to do, Sun?_ Even though Elmairy knew he couldn't hear him, he couldn't help but ask quietly.

_"Please meet the Storm Knight in Napal border, and go with him to visit Teacher Chasel and Lanbi. I'll send you the coordinates. Oh, and don't forget to wear civilian clothes."_

Taken aback, Elmairy raised his eyebrows. The instruction was short and clear, which was uncharacteristically of him, but the content was perplexing. Chasel and Lanbi were their former teachers, which meant they were ex-Twelve Holy Knights. But why in god's name would Sun want him and Storm to meet with them at this kind of time? And why must he wore civilian clothes?

_"Don't worry. Sun have sent instructions to Storm through Adair, it should be received at the same time as your arrival. He will understand what to do. But please hurry. Use the portal as much as you like. Time is of essence here."_

_"That's all. I wish light shines and blesses your way, Leaf Knight Captain. Goodbye."_

Elmairy straightened his back, and with a light movement he jumped down the 21-story building and landed smoothly on the ground, ignoring the scream of surprised people below. The way Sun formally called him with his codename instead of his nickname had proven how serious Sun's order was. In additon, his leader was speaking without riddles; something he rarely did. So without questioning the strange order, Elmairy made his way towards his troops.

His vice captain looked up and smiled at him, overjoyed by the successful mission, but that smile dissapeared when he saw the seriousness in Elmairy's expression. Concerned, he asked.

"Is something the matter, Captain?"

The whole troop's attention quickly focused on him. Elmairy gently put his gears on the ground and started to pack essential equipments for travelling while explaining.

"A new order has been issued. I am to go meet ;Storm Knight; alone and travel somewhere." He left it ambiguous in order for his team to not get suspicious. The dire situation of Napal War was not a light matter that could just be brushed over with little explanation, so his team would have to wait for the official announcement. "Please prepare a portal as soon as possible."

"But…" His vice-captain's eyes widened. "But you've just finished a mission, Sir! And now you have to go? Alone?"

After hesitating a bit, Elmairy spoke. "This is a direct command from my superior."

A look of comprehension appeared on everyone's faces. Of course, as one of the ;Twelve Holy Knights;, he only had one person with higher authority above him. Elmairy could hear several grumbles of dissatisfaction from his troop and stared at them with a reprimanding look.

"Sun Knight Captain has a good reason for asking me to do this, since this is a sensitive and urgent matter. Don't forget that he cares about LIGHTS the most!"

His team members went silent, some of them nodded and looked guilty. One of them quickly ran to prepare the portal, and the rest helped him to gather his personal belongings while he changed into civilian clothes.

There were several reasons behind his troop's odd reaction towards their leader. When they first met him, they were all swayed by his impeccable look and elegant attitude. But because he spoke in riddles most of the time, only few people could understand what he talked about. In addition, one of his bad habits was dumping paper work on other people, especially on Storm and him. When his vice-captain had found out about this, he had been furious.

Nevertheless, all of them respected him. Or was it fear? It was rumoured that although Sun had…below-average…shooting skill, he possessed a peculiar ESP power. Elmairy had refused to comment on it every time he was asked, although it was mainly because he also didn't know much. The only thing he knew, or suspected, was that Sun owned multiple ESP skills, something that should have been physically impossible.

Shaking his head, Elmairy decided not to think about that matter further. He did not wish to doubt him, his leader. Whatever shady past he had, Elmairy would still accept him.

_After all, that's what brothers do._

Smiling from the memory of Sun's speech when he succeeded the positon of Sun Knight, Elmairy stood up. Finally finished changing, he threw his green rucksack over his shoulder and made his way towards the portal.

"Have a safe journey, Captain." His vice-captain, out of habit, saluted him. He nodded with a smile. Behind him, his troop members waved their hands in a childish way, worried look on their faces as they shouted 'safe trip!' 'come back home safe!' and such. He waved back, then finally stepped on the portal. With smooth movement he entered his data and the coordinate of Napal border, and waited for the machine to beep and activate.

_"Codename: ;Leaf Knight; ID: #00005 confirmed. Fingerprints scanning completed. Coordinate entered. Please hold on tight and close your eyes. Counting down…"_

As he listened to the portal's count down, he felt the usual pressure of teleportation, like air was being sucked from his body. To be honest, he hated teleportating. It always made him nauseous and gave him severe headache for days. He preferred the ordinary way of travelling using planes or ships, longer but more comfortable. Not to mention much cheaper.

Well, the fact that Sun had told him to use portal as much as needed had truly indicated the criticallity of this situation….

Finally, the wall of the portal enclosed him completely, blocking his view of the outside. He could feel the flow of ESP power pouring around him, swirling in big circles and enveloping his body. With a suck similar to a vacuum cleaner's the portal threw him to the dimensional passage.

The dimensional passage was an artificial space designed to connect one portal to the other. There were numerous intersections that connected to millions of other portals, but as long as a person didn't stray from the original path, he wouldn't get lost. Elmairy started walking on his path, which was illuminated with bluish colour instead of the others' reddish one. He could feel and hear the presence of other people who were also using the portal, but because of the overlapping boundaries he wasn't able to see or communicate with them.

Or at least, that was what Sun explained to them. He was one of the scientists who invented the portal. Elmairy himself had no idea how this thing worked.

There were stories about people getting trapped forever in the dimensional passage when their machine haywired, but Sun told them the possibility it would happen was less than 0.1%, which was nothing to worry about.

Up ahead, he could see light indicating the end of the path. While the trip might have felt to be less than 10 minutes, in reality it could be much longer than that, for reasons Elmairy couldn't fathom (;Pope; tried explaining that to them, but Blaze and Metal ended up falling asleep). Anyway, the time outside might had changed a lot. Considering the distance, 2-3 days would've passed.

Finally, the path below him stopped and Elmairy stepped out into the light. The blinding sun forced him to squint and cover his eyes, and with the headache it took him some time to survey his surrounding. However, before he managed to move a limb, a man had his head at a gunpoint. He froze.

"Who are you?" The man asked coldly. He was wearing Storm Divison uniform, the metallic blue linings glinted brilliantly under the sun. Elmairy looked at him in confusion. Although Elmairy wasn't wearing his Leaf Uniform, how could a member of LIGHTS fail to recognise one of the ;Twelve Holy Knights;? Moreover, he was still carrying the intricately decorated Leaf Sniping Gun, a trademark of the Leaf Knight.

The answer came quickly to him. _This man was not a LIGHTS agent._

"Answer me. And drop all your stuffs and weapons to the ground."

Elmairy pondered on his next move. Should he incapacitated this man right now, or played along? He decided on the latter. Pretending to be frightened, he lowered his rucksack, his gun, and other weapons as he stole fearful glances at the man.

"Step away from the weapons."

Timidly, Elmairy moved away from his belongings. "I-I'm just a m-messenger, Sir." He stuttered quite excellently, Earth would've praised him if he were here. _Is this the reason Sun instructed me to wear civilian clothes? Have he known beforehand, or have he foreseen this would happen?_

"A messenger? From who? How did you find out about the Storm Knight's portal coordinate?"

He had to think fast. Of course he couldn't say that his command came directly from ;Sun Knight;, so he had to think of an excuse. "I'm from The Clock, Sir. I'm here to interview ;Storm Knight; about the uprising in South Napal." He tried to look innocent and sound as convincing as possible.

"The Clock? You mean that gossipy newspaper?"

"We don't only provide gossip, Sir. We offer interesting news and insightful…"

"That's enough." The man gritted his teeth and looked frustated, but brought his gun down anyway. "Why do you have so many weapons with you?"

"Well, this is dangerous time, Sir."

"Can't agree more with that." The man muttered. "Wait." He suddenly realized. "You haven't told me where you got…"

"Ohh!" Interrupting his question, Elmairy pretended to be amazed. "Is that the desert? How magnificent!"

The truth was, he had been here before. Nevertheless the view was amazing everytime he visited; a vast land of sand with undulating surface that looked silky and smooth. The man rolled his eyes, but didn't question him further.

Acting excited, Elmairy focused on the man. "Are you a Storm Division member, Sir? Where can I meet ;Storm Knight;?"

The man, refusing to answer, started to walk away when he sensed no threat from him. Not one to give up easily Elmairy followed him like a puppy. As he walked he took note of his surrounding: a few tents here and there, but they all looked generally abandoned. Apart from him and the man, this place looked abandoned. But none of this made sense. Where was the Storm Division? Why had they left their portal device behind? If Sun knew they had lost it, he would tortured them until they nearly died, treated their injuries, and tortured them again and again for the exorbitant amount of money they wasted.

Three theories came up to his mind. Either the entire division was wiped out – which was unthinkable, or they were forced to flee in such a short time that they had to leave the device. The other theory, and the most probable one, was that these people had stolen it. Elmairy sighed. Sun wouldn't be very happy.

"Oy!"

Suddenly, another man approached. He, too, was wearing a Storm Divison uniform. Elmairy sincerely wished he was not a fake one, but it was apparently not so, since he too didn't recognise him. Instead, the newcomer looked at him in disdain.

"Who's this?"

"A journalist from the Clock, Don. Here to interview Storm Knight."

Leaf snickered inside his heart. Their subordinates referred to them as 'Knight Captain' or just 'Captain', never only Leaf Knight or Storm Knight. One more mistake.

The other man, Don, was watching him with suspicious look. _Of course, if it were me, I would be suspicious too_, thought Elmairy. But he gave him his kindest and most trustworthy face, which usually won mothers and allies alike. The man looked away.

"How's the preparation, Don?" With his super senses he caught the first man whispering. "We couldn't stay here any longer. They're gonna catch up with us soon. Don't you know how fast those bastards could move?"

"I'm working on it." The man hissed. He had a computer on his arm. "I need at least 3 more hours to break the code. LIGHTS' security isn't one to be underestimated with, you know."

_Are they terrorists? No, it can't be as simple as that… They are amateurs, that's for sure. What are they trying to achieve? If they wanted the HQ's coordinate, they would've forced me to spit it out from the first opportunity._

_'Those bastards' was referring to the Storm Division..so they are still alive. _Knowing he was being foolish for doubting it, Elmairy still breathed a sigh of relief.

_Looks like I won't get anything from this. I should contact Storm immediately and request his men to interrogate him. Sun wouldn't be too pleased if I kept dawdling._

Sighing, he stepped in front of those two men. Although short-range fighting was not his preference, the ;Twelve Holy Knights; were trained in all kinds of fighting styles. The two men looked at him in confusion as he bowed low, fished out a coil of flexible wire hidden inside his boots, and with a swift movement wrapped it around Don's neck, choking him tight.

The man made a gurgling sound while his partner shouted in anger. "What do you think you're doing?"

But before the other man could raise his gun, Elmairy kicked it hard and sent it flying, much to the man's disbelief look. He heard Don choked and felt him fainted away, so he loosened his wire grip, picked up Don's gun, and pointed it at the first man.

"You..you.." The man was very angry, but at a gunpoint he could do nothing but stutter. "You're not a journalist!"

Elmairy shook his head. "You really believed that? You didn't even ask for any identification, how careless of you."

"Wait!" The man shouted in panic as Elmairy released the safety. "I'm – we're a Storm Divison member! Do you want to pick a fight with LIGHTS?"

This time Elmairy only smiled ironically. "The first thing I'd ask when interrogating you is how you got their uniform. And I don't think LIGHTS would mind. You see, I'm the Leaf Knight."

The horrified expression of that man was so priceless Elmairy nearly laughed.

"Well, I'm in hurry now, so unless you tell me quickly who you guys are, where the Storm Division is, and how you guys stole their portal device, you're gonna feel the wrath of both ;Storm Knight; and ;Sun Knight;."

* * *

><p><span><em>Information<em>

LIGHTS: a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working towards peace. Their HQ is located in Senin country.

_Senin country: led by President Archer (you know, from Forgotten Sound?). In peace and has neutral stance, it had arms trading alliance with Orchid country. _

_Orchid country: base of the War Guild_

_War Guild: biggest underground mercenary group_

_Napal: a warring country divided into northern and southern part. In North there was the Vault family, who had ruled Napal for generations. In South they had an ex-soldier named Awaitsun who had been encouraging people to declare independence. _

_North Napal: supported by Orchid country and the War Guild at present._

_South Napal: supported by LIGHTS._


End file.
